Americans spend billions of dollars each year trying to change their weight with diets, gym memberships and plastic surgery.

    Trying to live up to the images of “perfect” models and movie heroes has a dark side: anxiety, depression, as well as unhealthy strategies for weight loss or muscle gain. It also has a financial cost. Having an eating disorder boosts annual health care costs by nearly US$2,000 per person.

    Why is there both external and internal pressure to look “perfect”? One reason is that society rewards people who are thin and healthy-looking. Researchers have shown that body mass index is related to wages and income. Especially for women, there is a clear penalty at work for being overweight or obese. Some studies have also found an impact for men, though a less noticeable one.

    While the research literature is clear that labor market success is partly based on how employers and customers perceive your body image, no one had explored the other side of the question. Does a person’s own perception of body image matter to earnings and other indicators of success in the workplace?

    Our recently published study answered this question by tracking a large national random sample of Americans over a critical time period when bodies change from teenage shape into adult form and when people build their identities.

    As in other research, women in our sample tend to over-perceive weight—they think they’re heavier than they are—while men tend to under-perceive theirs.

    We found no relationship between the average person’s self-perception of weight and labor market outcomes, although self-perceived weight can influence self-esteem (自尊心), mental health and health behaviors. 

    While the continued gender penalty in the labor market is frustrating, our finding that misperceived weight does not harm workers is more heartening.

    Since employers’ perception of weight is what matters in the labor market, changing discrimination laws to include body type as a category would help. Michigan is the only state that prohibits discrimination on the basis of weight and height. We believe expanding such protections would make the labor market more fair and efficient.

解析：C。题目问作者最近的研究重点是什么。根据题目中的the author’s recent study可定位至原文第五段，对应第五段开头的Our recently published study。第五段第一句提到，最近发表的一项研究回答了这个问题。“这个问题”指的就是第四段结尾的“一个人如何看待自己的身体形象，是否会影响到收入以及其他衡量职场成功与否的指标”。C项是对这一研究主题的同义转述，其中的self-perception of body image对应原文第四段最后一句中的a person’s own perception of body image，C项中的impacts对应该句中的matter to，one’s workplace success对应该句中的indicators of success in the workplace，故C项为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用在原文第四段中出现的literature和indicators设置干扰，但第四段第一句明确指出，以往的文献只研究了雇主和顾客对身体形象的看法是否会影响到一个人在职场的成功，并没有提到一个人对自身形象的认知是否也会有所影响，结合第五段作者研究内容可知，以往的文献并不是作者近期研究的重点，故A项排除。B项利用matter、success、labor market等原文中出现过的词设置干扰，但原文中并未提及个人职场成功的“重要品质”（Traits），B项属于细节拼凑，故排除。第四段第一句中提到，雇主对于身体形象的看法在一定程度上会影响到一个人的职场成功，但这是以往文献的研究重点，并不是作者最近的研究重点，故D项排除。